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November 13th, 2013

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The salaries of the 28 special advisers – so-called 'spin doctors' – who work in 22 governmental ministries, total more than 23 million kroner a year.

The salaries, duties and professional backgrounds of government spin doctors were published yesterday by the Moderniseringsstyrelsen – the agency for the modernisation of public administration – following a government decision this May. The government came under fire last month for taking so long to follow through on the promise to release the salaries. 

PM adviser a millionaire|
Noa Reddington, the spin doctor for PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt (S), topped the list with an annual salary of 1,053,478 kroner.

He was followed by Finance Ministry spin doctors Asbjørn Riis and Sten Kristensen, who earn 931,941 kroner and 931,872 kroner respectively.

READ MORE: Government still hiding spin doctor salaries

Better paid than MPs
The least well paid is Allan Wessel Andersen, who works for the Health Ministry, but his 699,177 kroner annual salary is still more than the 661,000 kroner average annual salary of an MP.

Rules limit most government ministries to hiring only one spin doctor who can only be paid up to 75 percent of their minister’s salary.

Ministries that are also members of the government’s economy and co-ordination committee are entitled to two spin doctors who can be paid up to 85 percent of their minister’s salary.

Government ministers earn between 1,167,571 kroner and 1,283,228 kroner a year – depending on the ministry – while the prime minister’s annual salary is 1,458,214 kroner.

Enhedslisten's Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen criticised the high salaries.

"It is a real political problem if the people who are professionally involved in politics have a standard of living that is significantly higher than the average Dane," Schmidt-Nielsen told Politiken newspaper. 

The full list of governmental spin doctors and their salaries can be seen here.